E3 Makes Me Want To Play Games That Already Exist

I’m used to coming away from the pre-E3 press conference blitz with my eyes on the new and fresh games gleaming on the horizon. In some ways 2017’s announcements have had a similar effect, but this year there’s a significant difference. It’s not the new IP or the sizzling sequels that have my attention this year. No, what I’m most looking forward to (and the promise I’m most excited about) is having an excuse to go back to many of the games I didn’t finish, or that I even outright missed.

The gaming community’s overwhelming and ever-present Fear of Missing Out means that a lot of us dedicate precious little time backtracking. In periods dense with great games it’s incredibly common to pass on one appealing game in favor of another—if not because of time or an ever-shifting zeitgeist, then because of budget. The first half of 2017 is easily the best example of that in recent memory, but 2016 was a damn good year for games too. Keeping up has been next to impossible.

It’s obviously not the worst dilemma a person could ever face, but it’s a common one. There aren’t infinite hours in the day or infinite dollars in a wallet to cover everything of interest. But that’s why I can’t say I’m disappointed with how much DLC we’ve seen this year. Bethesda, Sony, Nintendo—company after company offering a breath of renewed relevance for many games that I never got a chance to sink my teeth into the first time around.

Dishonored 2 may have been what I came away from E3 2016 most enthusiastic about (all caps Twitter thread excited) but the timing just didn’t work out. That doesn’t mean I’m going to miss out on a chance to mess with The Outsider, and even though Death of The Outsider is standalone DLC it’s the perfect excuse to give Dishonored 2 the attention I always meant to.

I can say the exact same thing for Uncharted 4, which wasn’t on my radar until the enthusiasm around it swelled to to the point that I couldn’t ignore it. Even though The Lost Legacy is a standalone follow-up, it’s ample cause to go back and give the original a shot. Then there’s Horizon Zero Dawn and Breath of the Wild, two games I skimmed the surface of before Persona 5 stole me away, both with promising expansions due out this year. Hell, I’m even happy to have an excuse to revisit Minecraft (a game I never neglected, but definitely thought I was done with.)

I’m not as electrified about the Next Big Thing as I usually am by the time the convention center doors actually open, but this year’s press conferences have still delivered. They’ve provided something I didn’t even know I needed, and that I’m very glad to have: A bunch of great reasons to stop, take a breath, and look back.